Mobile Broadband: What Are the Challenges?

As I live in rural Scotland the landlines are so far from the exchange that the best broadband speed I can get is 1mb and that is shared between 4 houses.

I signed up for Three's mobile broadband service and I get a full HSPA signal which gives between 4 and 5mb. The downside is that there is a 15gb a month limit and if you go over it is the equivalent of taking out a payday loan.

What I really need is mobile broadband with unlimited data. Then I wouldn't bother with a landline at all.

Do you have good coverage where you're at?

Gary_newell, this is one that I sympathise with, however as an update, many people will know of the fiasco of the NBN in Australia. Parts of it are still going ahead. In my area, the new NBN radio link tower is now in place, the optical fibre is laid and probably attached and the aerials and dishes are now being placed on the tower. Our house is lucky - we are a direct line of sight with the tower - well, apart from trees here and there.

Currently, I am on a copper pair and 3km from the exchange......I'm supposed to get 1.2Mbits/second......the best I've ever got is about 700Kbits/sec, but it works reasonably well. I strongly suspect within a couple of months we'll be asked (or told) to go onto a radio link to the tower for all telephone and internet usage and that will be sensible because the copper lines are now at least 30 years old, they have been hit by lightning a couple of times and they really are in need of replacement .......or an RIP notice. Given half a chance, I'll keep everyone posted on what happens. But I do feel for you on this one.....at least my bandwidth is all mine, and it's a pain in the gluteus maximus muscle when your landline links go to pieces as ours did earlier this year.

I've heard that Australia has messed up in terms of Internet access. Hopefully things improve in the future.